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In this episode, I talk with one of my former violin teachers, Shmuel Ashkenasi. Throughout his career he distinguished himself as an extraordinary soloist and during his time in the Vermeer Quartet as one of the greatest chamber musicians of our time. Given all his advancements in technique and musical ideas, I believe him to be one of the most important violinists of our time. He was a graduate of The Curtis Institute and now currently teaches there. In this interview, we discuss his former teachers Ilona Feher, Toshia Eto, and Efrem Zimbalist, and his views on technique, phrasing, vibrato, the release and articulation of notes as well as intonation, and practicing tips.

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Just wanted to say thanks for all the support in helping make this podcast a great success, fill the listeners in on the progress so far and wanted to say a little about the upcoming episodes.  

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In this episode we talk with world renowned violist, and Grammy Award winner, Roberto Diaz. We discuss his musical education, his music career as a soloist, a teacher and principal violist in the Philadelphia orchestra, he also shares his insights as president and CEO of The Curtis Institute, as well as the student experience there. We discuss his acquisition of the William Primrose viola, his philosophy of practicing, music preparation, and performance considerations and more. More information on the Tuscan Medici Stradivarius Viola which he spoke about can be found here. https://www.msn.com/en-us/arts/performing-arts/curtis-institute-president-plays-a-viola-valued-at-30m-likely-the-most-expensive-musical-instrument-the-world/ar-AA1Fxp9U

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Kristian Svennevig is joined by long time friend and colleague Dr. Sara Wandrei Langmead to discuss her backgroud and philosophy of education and why it's important to provide everyone access to information. touching on topics like why it's important to understand issues of balance and technique and why drawing on other disciplines is better for teaching. 

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Host, Kristian Svennevig, a graduate of The University of Wisconsin, Madison, draws upon the wealth of knowledge gained from 30 + years of classroom teaching as an Orchestra teacher and more than 47 years as a violinist.  He also brings the education gained from study with many world renowned violinists and musicians.  In addition, his significant background in neuroscience and psychology and lifelong interest in science provides a unique perspective on teaching. This episode introduces the ideas and rationale behind this podcast series. It delves into some of our current limitations of teaching as well as introduces how we can use psychology, neuroscience and body awareness along with a multidisciplinary approach to move into the next level of teaching. Although this podcast is primarily geared toward music teachers, there is considerable overlap in classroom teaching of other subjects. Therefore, many teachers might find value in the information contained in this podcast.